MERS: South Korea to keep tabs on mobile phones to prevent ‘deadly’ virus spreading!

Seoul--

South Korean authorities will track the mobile phones of hundreds of people under quarantine to prevent the spread of the deadly MERS virus as they reported a fifth death in the outbreak, bringing the number of infections rising to 64.

The government, criticised over its lack of transparency in handling the outbreak, bowed to public pressure yesterday and identified 24 health facilities where infections took place or patients with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome visited. 

It reported 14 confirmed new cases of MERS, adding to the largest number outside the Middle East.

“Please understand this is an unavoidable measure for the sake of our neighbours and families,” the deputy prime minister, Choi Kyung-hwan, told a news briefing in the central city of Sejong, where he announced the plan to track the mobile phones of people under quarantine to ensure they stayed at home.

Nearly 2,000 people in South Korea are under quarantine, some in health care facilities, but most at home, including an entire village of about 105 people in the south-west after a resident who visited a hospital where the country’s first patient with MERS was treated turned out to be infected. 

In late May, a South Korean man broke a voluntary house quarantine and flew to Hong Kong and then travelled to mainland China, where he tested positive for MERS. 

South Korea’s outbreak of the virus, first reported on 20 May, has prompted fear and the closure last week of more than 1,000 schools, with thousands of tourists cancelling plans to visit the country. 

“We can absolutely control this because all MERS cases in our country are infections in health facilities, not spreading into communities,” Choi added.